Question
Any helpful advise on how to eradicate Creeping Charlie from my otherwise beautiful lawn. FYI - I live in Western Illinois. Any help will be appreciated.

Answer
It is a very difficult weed to eradicate.

Even when you apply Round-UP (which kills grass and weeds) the weed is particularily difficult to eradicate and may require multiple spraying.

I usually try to divide my lawn into sections. Then I attack one section at a time and eradicate the weed from this section. Next day (or next time) I ALWAYS go back to areas previously cleared BEFORE I go to a new area. Then I clear another small area. When I go back, I start in the areas ALREADY cleared before going another step forward.

This systematic way of going about eradication of the weed is the only real way you can do it. I do it by handpulling, but you could use two pieces cardboard which is pushed together to "trap" the weed above the grass (the cardboard protects grass) and then spray Round-Up.

By always going back to the cleared areas first, you get any new weeds in the cleared areas (previously cleared areas will be much easier to clear even if weeds should re-appear). This way you can take it in steps. I usually make my steps a 2-3 foot wide swatch at a time and gradually moving from one end of the lawn to the other.

A few things:
- always (ALWAYS) go back to the areas already cleared
- until you have been through the entire lawn, do it regularily. E.g. do not wait a month before going into a new section. Do this frequently (if not daily then every few days) until you have eradicated weeds in the entire area.
- take time on occation to go through the lawn and look for any new invasions. They WILL happen but it is so much easier to erdicate young, new plants, then waiting until the lawn is completely covered.